WHEELS
OF FURY FT. MAD MIKE - The good, the bad and the ugly.
Event date: 17 September 2016 | Words & photos: Nish | Venue:
Grand West, Cape Town
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With the last Wheels of Fury event held at Grand West being an
absolute scorcher, weather wise … we all prayed for a cooler
day. I think we prayed too hard though as we were met with a blustery
day instead, but hey, we’ll take that over 35 degree heat
any day.
First off we must thank and congratulate the organizers on what
was overall a good event. We have been behind the scenes long
enough to know what it takes to organize an event like this, let
alone get Red Bull to bring Mad Mike down here … well up
here … cause he’s from New Zealand, get it, dry I
know. Anyway, it was apparently 2 years in the making but man
oh man was it worth it.
Mad Mikes drifting skill is insane, his 800kw RX8 is a smoke machine!!
He drifted through the course effortlessly, coming ridiculously
close to cones and barriers on every demo run. Something he apparently
does on purpose, well he is Mad Mike after all, so it should be
expected I suppose.
Then there’s the man, down to earth, humble, always willing
to chat to fans and fellow drivers. His machine, the RX8 is amazingly
put together. His crew, completely professional, something our
local guys can aim for. Well … At least this is what I was
told.
You see, Us, as media, I wasn’t allowed near the Red Bull
tent at all. I don’t have a single pic of his car in the
pits, his mechanics working on the car, let alone a pic of the
man himself or even a pic with him and some fans. NOTHING.
You’d think as media we’d be granted some sort of
access to the biggest draw card of the event. I mean isn’t
that the point of media? There was a clear gap between what the
organizers planned in terms of access and what Grand West decided
was feasible access on the day. Whose fault was it? I don’t
really care, but my thing is … If this is how I felt as
someone with apparently unlimited access, how did those feel who
had normal ticket entry? Hell even those with VIP tickets had
restrictions as they weren’t V-VIP’s.
There has been lots of rumblings all over social media about what
a good / bad event this was, to me overall it was a good event.
But, there’s always a “But”!! This event was
saved by the entertainers and competitors.
Our drifters have really stepped up their game over the years.
Most runs were tight, often requiring the fan favorite “one
more time”. For me, Shane Green and Sean February had one
of the hardest fought tandems on the day.
The final was dramatic to say the least with Otto Graven taking
the Top Spot at the end of the day. Most of the people we spoke
to thought it was our visitor from Mozambique, Zanil Satar who
should have taken the win with the initial “one more time”
not really necessary, but hey, maybe the judges saw something
different on the day.
Last but not least, the commentary team … Ernest Page, Wardah
Hartley and Vic Pardal. You guys rock!! Had it not been for the
fantastic commentating and spectacular show put on by our competitors
this event would have been just been an awesome demo run by Mad
Mike.
And on the “Car Show” section of the event …
my mother always said, if you don’t have anything good to
say about something you should rather just shut your mouth!! So,
let’s just go back to the heading of the article ….
The Good, the Bad and the … UGLY.
Nish
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